The Risk Matrix

Detecting Impairment, Not History: How Safety Leaders Navigate Legalization


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"Your drug test came back positive, but that doesn't tell you if your worker is impaired right now."

This week Dr. Martin and James sit down with Ken Fichtler, CEO at Gaize.ai, to discuss the critical gap between detecting past drug use and identifying actual impairment in safety-sensitive environments.

Drawing from real-world cases where traditional drug tests created false positives and unnecessary terminations, they reveal why your current impairment detection strategy might be leaving workers exposed.

From cannabis legalization reshaping workplace policy to proactive screening creating deterrent effects, impairment detection has become a challenge in occupational safety that impacts companies' compliance status and worker safety.

Inside the Episode:

  • Why traditional drug tests measure past use, not impairment, and what this means for your liability
  • The critical difference between detecting what's in someone's system and whether they're actually impaired on the job
  • How cannabis legalization laws like CA AB 2188 are reshaping workplace policy and what you need to do now
  • How Gaize's ocular technology achieves 98% accuracy in detecting real-time impairment in six minutes


About Our Guest:

Ken Fichtler, CEO and founder of Gaize.ai, is a regulatory compliance and impairment detection expert with a technology and entrepreneurship background that evolved into decades of work understanding how cannabis and other drugs impact the body differently than alcohol. His focus on how detection technology impacts workplace safety brings a uniquely informed perspective on where impairment testing protects or compromises workplace safety.

The Risk Matrix Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Weekly masterclass in risk management from industry titans ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dr. L.F. Martin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (32-year veteran, Board of Global EHS Credentialing Impact Award winner) and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James Junkin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (trainer of 40,000+ safety professionals, ASSP's 2024 Safety Professional of the Year).

Every Tuesday: The tough conversations safety managers need to have. Critical insights from safety experts. Real-world strategies. Actionable solutions.

The Risk Matrix Podcast is powered by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Veriforce⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Bringing workers home safe from high-hazard jobs.

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